Crossover Nexus
"Crossover Nexus" is the 23rd episode of Season 2 of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes and the 77th episode overall. It is a crossover episode that features Garnet from Steven Universe, Ben from Ben 10, Raven from Teen Titans Go!, and other characters from various cartoons. Sypnosis When KO finds himself trapped inside an mysterious place, he encounters other Cartoon Network Heroes and they band together to escape. Plot In a destroyed city, two shadowed heroes are being attacked by a villain named Strike. Fed up by their hiding, he summons K.O. to eliminate instead. Just as he's about to destroy him, one of the shadowed heroes saves him, revealing herself to be Garnet. The other shadowed hero is Ben 10, and they run. Strike sends his blaster after them. After brief introductions, the blaster engages them. Ben turns into Four-Arms and pushes it back. The blaster retaliates by blasting off his Omnitrix, preventing him from turning back. Garnet also loses her visor, which enabled her to focus her future vision (and were prescription). The three escape and manage to temporarily bring down the blaster. Escaping into an abandoned building, they find numerous other heroes they've never seen (all from 1990s and 2000s CN shows), encased in stone with red X's on them. They do find one hero named Raven, who managed to survive Strike's attack due to a protection spell. She explains that the city they're in used to be a bustling utopia for all sorts of heroes until Strike showed up to destroy all of them, stealing their powers. He then began summoning heroes to destroy from other dimensions which he does with ease. Raven has also lost most of her powers, only being able to levitate. The four decide to attack Strike's lair head on, even forming their team name: "O.K. Ben Let's Go Universe" along the way. Using Raven's levitation and Garnet and K.O's punches, they evade traps and monsters sent by Strike and make it to his lair. The Medusa Canon shows up once more and corners them. Strike arrives and begins powering up. K.O. uses this opportunity to grab the Medusa Canon, figuring that its appearance as a pen would indicate it could create as well as destroy. K.O. restores his new friends' powers and they engage Strike. He sends X energy blasts down that Garnet deflects with rapid-fire gauntlet strikes and future vision, while Raven uses a blast of dark energy. When Ben tries to change, he only changes into two of the various heroes he saw before. K.O. explains that when he used the Medusa Canon to restore the Omnitrix, the powers that Strike has stolen came with it. K.O. then uses a power fist to launch Ben at the stunned Strike. Ben then transforms into many heroes as he delivers a devastating final hit, destroying Strike. Garnet reprograms the blaster, and the city, as well as all the heroes, are restored by it. Raven opens portals to their home dimensions, and Ben and Raven both depart. Before Garnet leaves she uses the blaster to create a POW card of herself for K.O. and leaves for her home dimension. K.O. returns to his home and wakes up in Gar's Bodega. Initially believing that he was dreaming, he then discovers the Garnet POW card, realizing that the recent events were true. Features *K.O. *Mr. Gar (mentioned, poster) *Garnet *Raven *Ben Tennyson **Four Arms *Strike *Steven Universe (imagined, gemstone in original storyboard) *Pearl (imagined) *Amethyst (imagined) *Robin (shadow cameo) *Starfire (shadow cameo) *Cyborg (shadow cameo, body in original storyboard) *Beast Boy (shadow cameo; mentioned) *Grandpa Max (mentioned) *Gwen Tennyson (mentioned, head in original storyboard) *I.M. Weasel (stone and reanimated cameo) *Yumi (stone and reanimated cameo) *Chowder (stone and reanimated cameo; Ben's transformation) *Schnitzel (stone and reanimated cameo) *Edd (Double D) (stone cameo; Ben's transformation) *Moxy (stone and reanimated cameo; Ben's transformation) *Finn the Human (Ben's transformation) *Jake the Dog (watch cameo; stone cameo, Ben's transformation) *Mordecai (Ben's transformation) *Hi-Five Ghost (stone and reanimated cameo) *Buttercup (Ben's transformation) *Talking Dog (stone cameo) *Prohyas Warrior (watch cameo; stone cameo; Ben's transformation) *Gumball (stone cameo; Ben's transformation) *Festro (stone and reanimated cameo; Ben's transformation) *Uncle Grandpa (Ben's transformation) *Robot Jones (stone and reanimated cameo; Ben's transformation) *Kelsey (stone cameo) *Mortimer (stone cameo) *Ilana (stone and reanimated cameo) *Octus (stone cameo) *Frankie (stone cameo) *Juniper Lee (stone cameo) *Black Hat (stone cameo) *Golly Gopher (stone cameo) *Mao Mao (stone cameo)[4] *Larry 3000 (stone cameo) *Lu (stone cameo) *Wirt (stone cameo; Ben's transformation) *Gregory (stone cameo) *Jason Funderburker (stone cameo) *Sheep (stone cameo) *Captain K'nuckles (stone cameo; Ben's Transformation) *Grim (stone cameo, Ben's Transformation) *Courage (stone cameo) *Supercow (Ben's transformation) *Chicken (stone cameo) *Grizzly (stone cameo; Ben's transformation) *Dexter (Ben's transformation) *Monkey (stone cameo; Ben's transformation) *Jeff (stone cameo; Ben's transformation) *Jorel's Brother (stone cameo) *Johnny Bravo (Ben's transformation) *Carl (stone cameo) *Lazlo (stone cameo) *Jake Spidermonkey (stone cameo) *Numbuh 5 (stone cameo) *Erin (stone cameo) *Kiva Andru (stone cameo) *Duncan Rosenblatt (stone cameo) *One-One (stone cameo) *Tiggy (stone cameo) *Generator Rex (stone cameo) *Major Dr. Ghastly (stone cameo) *Apple (stone cameo) *Rodney J. Squirrel (stone cameo) *Hedgehog (stone cameo) *King Rufus (stone cameo) *Valentino (stone cameo) *Blastus (stone cameo) *Alfe (stone cameo) *Periwinkle (stone cameo) *Two characters from The Fungies (stone cameo) *Noods (reanimated cameo) *Toonix (cameo) *Clyde 49 (cameo) *SuperChunk Kid (cameo) Original Storyboards *Enid (legs) *Ruby *Sapphire *Connie Maheswaran (original Crystal Gems image cloud) *Peridot (original Crystal Gems image cloud) *Stickman *Li'l D (stone cameo) *An unknown The Secret Saturdays character (stone cameo) Soundtrack https://soundcloud.com/mintpotion/okko-music-ep-74-crossover-nexus Production Notes *According to Ian Jones-Quartey, the idea of the episode came from the idea of having cameos of hero characters from different Cartoon Network shows during the "Point Prep" arc. The original idea was for it to be a 22-minute special that would follow the same premise as the final version but would meet Ruby and Sapphire before meeting Garnet and would battle each other before teaming up, as well as them facing the evil Red Pen which was later re-worked as Strike's drone. Cartoon Network wanted the episode to be 11-minutes so the entire idea was reworked to have the setting taken place in "CN City", the fictional setting for the series of Cartoon Network bumpers that aired simultaneously from 2004 to 2007, as well as using numerous Primal Screen's library of backgrounds from the networks' past bumpers as reference. The process of implanting the cameo appearances of the past and present Cartoon Network programs was a lengthy process due to legal rights and locating official model and artwork for the characters to make their cameos and design more accurate to their original forms. Some show cameos such as Class of 3000 and The Secret Saturdays were not shown in the final as they were in scenes no longer on the final production. CN worked with the Teen Titans Go! crew at Warner Bros. Animation to get all the proper references and sound effects needed for Raven. Mint Point Studios composed the episodes' score using selective Cartoon Network jingles as their motif for the episode. *In another behind the scenes twitter thread from Iggy Craig for part two, Raven gets possessed by evil ink from the red pen and K.O. draws a new hero into existence that's just all their friends smashed together, which composed of Gwen's head, Cyborg's body, Steven's gem, and Enid's legs. The "new hero" squeezes the ink out of Raven. K.O. uses the Cartoon Punch with Ben ultimately became Finn to defeat the pen. Then, the pen and a heroic pencil teaming up at the end to draw "Stickman", a stick figure with huge muscular arms that was scrapped from the final version that congratulates the team for being a good team. *Its production code, 1064-074 was an artifact of the half-hour version and doesn't accurately reflect when the 11-minute version was boarded which a couple of episodes (i.e. "Monster Party", "CarolQuest", "Plaza Alone", etc.) were done before the 11-minute version. The leftover 1064-075 (originally the second half of the crossover) production code was reused later in the season for parts of another episode. **It is later revealed that 1064-075 was for part two of the season two finale "Dark Plaza". **The production of the elven minute version of the episode was completed before "Whacky Jaxxyz". *Parker Simmons (who wasn't involved in the original 22-minute version of the special) was the primary storyboard artist on the final 11-minute version; the scenes from the other storyboard artists were all taken from the 22-minute version and then stitched together and (when necessary) reworked by Parker.[10] *The original 22-minute version never got past the storyboard phase according to Ryan Cecil Smith. Trivia *This episode is dedicated to Cartoon Network and Cartoon Network's 25th Anniversary. *This episode was announced at San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2018. *This episode is ninth crossover special of Cartoon Network, as well as third in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, after "The Power Is Yours!" and "Monster Party". **Coincidentally, Steven Universe and Teen Titans Go! had crossover special with Uncle Grandpa and The Powerpuff Girls in past ("Say Uncle" and "TTG v PPG"), as well as Ben 10 had 2 crossover specials in original continuity ("Ben 10/Generator Rex: Heroes United" and "T.G.I.S."). *This episode is based on several cartoon crossover specials Ian Jones-Quartey had watched when he was younger.[12] *Parker Simmons, who had left the show after "Your World is an Illusion", briefly returned to the show to contribute to the special.[13] *The episode had the cooperation of many creators and boarders from the shows, as well as the original voice actors for the characters.[14] *The setting for the crossover is CN City, which was featured in a series of bumpers from 2004 to 2007, and hasn't been seen since 2007 (with international CN channels retiring it as late as 2010), yet has seen some offscreen in-universe expansion and redevelopment, as evidenced by the appearance of the Noods, Finn & Jake's Treehouse, etc, until it got destroyed and abandoned before the events of the special, where it was subsequently rebuilt by the end. *Logos for Cartoon Cartoons, Fridays, Cartoon Planet, Tickle U, Shorties, JBVO, Har Har Tharsdays, and Yes! can be seen. *The current CN logo is used in the title card of the episode instead of saying Cartoon Network it now says Crossover Nexus. *This episode marks the first (and currently, only) time that Moxy, host of The Moxy Show, has been acknowledged by an official Cartoon Network product since 2002. *Periwinkle from Periwinkle Around the World, from the Sunday Pants anthology series, can be seen. *The themes for Cartoon Cartoons, CN City, and NEW NEW NEW NEW can be heard. *When Ben briefly turns into Buttercup, her design is that of the original show and not the reboot. *Garnet's Pow Card shows her gems for her power level instead of being non-numerical. *The Noods from the Nood era can also be seen, along with their counterpart in other countries, Toonix. *Some characters aren't from a CN original, or created from CN in the US: **Two Cartoon Network's Latin American co-productions, Jorel's Brother (title character), and Villainous (Black Hat) can be seen, most likely due to Ian Jones-Quartey, visited Brazil in 2017, for Comic-Con Experience, to do a live drawing with the creator of Jorel's Brother, Juliano Enrico. ***Black Hat's appearance among the heroes is strange, as despite being the protagonist of his series, he is still a villain. ****However, in the episode of "Videos of Guidance for villains: Q & A Blackhat Organization responds", Dr. Flug confimates that the Black Hat that appears in this episode is a clone that appeared in the short "The Perception of Evil". *Golly Gopher from Re-Animated and its spin-off Out of Jimmy's Head is the only character to come from a live-action/animated CN production. *The Teen Titans, Rex Salazar (Generator Rex), and Duncan Rosenblatt (Firebreather) are the only non-original Cartoon Network characters to appear in this special, as these incarnations of the characters are based on those originally published by DC Comics and Image Comics respectively. *The scene where CN City is in desolation and the Cartoon Network characters are turned into stone might be a reference to the 1985 Disney film, Return to Oz. *Clyde 49 (the original mascot of Toonami when it launched in 1997) can be seen amongst the graffiti; Ghost Planet Industries also makes a very small appearance at the end when CN City is restored, floating high above the city. *The only shows that do not appear are Space Ghost: Coast to Coast (due to fact that it is has been owned by Adult Swim since 2001), What a Cartoon!, Star Wars: Clone Wars (due to Disney now owning the rights to the Star Wars franchise), Class of 3000, Transformers: Animated, The Secret Saturdays, Ben 10's original continuity (Ben 10 (2005-2008), Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Ben 10: Omniverse) Mixels (as it is co-owned by LEGO), live action shows besides Out of Jimmy's Head (such as Big Bag, Level Up, and Incredible Crew), and co-productions (IE Robotboy, Hero 108, The Cramp Twins, and The Mr. Men Show). *Posters from different shows can be seen: Adventure Time, Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack (season 5), Steven Universe, Johnny Bravo, Regular Show, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Craig of the Creek, The Powerpuff Girls, Ben 10 (2017), The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, etc. *The Buzz Wagon from Wacky Races can be seen in the parking lot of the studio building when the city is restored. *When Ben rapidly transforms into many heroes to beat Strike, it is a direct reference to the series finale of Ben 10: Omniverse when Ben transforms into all of his aliens in order to shoot a beam at Maltruant without destroying himself in the process. *In this episode, Ben has the Season 3 version of the Omnitrix even though this episode aired prior to the Season 2 finale of Ben 10, "Innervasion", in the US. *''Teen Titans Go!'' is the only guest series to appear, having been licensed from Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment. *Garnet doesn't have her wedding rings in the episode, despite it having aired after the Steven Universe episode "Reunited" in the US. *Much like Moxy (from The Moxy Show), this episode also marks the first (if not, only) time that Golly Gopher (from Out of Jimmy's Head) and Periwinkle (from Sunday Pants) have been acknowledged by a modern day Cartoon Network crossover. Category:Crossover Episode Category:OK KO!: Let's Be Heroes! Category:OK KO! Season 2 Episodes Category:OK KO! Episodes